The Indie Informer

If, like me, you’ve fantasized about dropping a substantial amount of money to fly to New Zealand and experience life in Hobbiton, Tales of the Shire might be for you. Recent attempts at adapting the stories of Middle Earth into video games has been hit or miss, which made me wary when I sat down to play the opening.

However, developer Wētā Workshop is putting its knowledge of the setting to good use. The Shire I step into is nothing but vibes — pastoral, comfort-food vibes. From what I’ve seen, it’s not trying to offer anything other than a cozy world to cook, decorate, and fish in.

Unlike the pint-sized heroes from the books, our customizable hobbit protagonist is starting a new life in the village of Bywater. This is another smart move for the developers as the lesser-known location means stepping out from the shadow of fan-adored spots like Bag End — though the two towns’ proximities does leave the game open to familiar call-backs. I hope the team handles these with care, as an early dialogue centered around second breakfast already felt a bit heavy-handed.

My guide through the demo was not forthcoming with information about the game’s story, and I wasn’t able to play around with the character creator. With only thirty minutes to explore the game, that makes sense. I know I would have poured ninety percent of my time into molding the perfect hobbit likeness. So, my tale begins with an unexplained journey to a new house… and Orlo.

Orlo, bless his heart, is a well meaning hobbit who, I’m sure, fully intends to ease me into my new life. The poor guy can’t help that his tummy begins rumbling just steps into the garden. So, even though I haven’t even unpacked yet, it’s my job to feed the starving creature.

The dialogue is not a masterclass of writing, with some of the interaction feeling a bit stiff. It does what it needs to do, though, making me feel for the lovable dunce. At least enough that I ignore the clearly unfinished house and head to the kitchen to make him a meal.

From what I can tell, most of the game’s action revolves around food. Making it. Eating it. Gathering ingredients for it. And that seems fitting. This first challenge, my demo conductor assures me, is as easy as they come. Orlo wants a rhubarb porridge with a smooth consistency and slightly sour flavor profile. Besides picking ingredients like rhubarb, oats, and milk to combine from my inventory, whipping up the perfect dish requires careful preparation.

It’s time for a minigame. I’m shown a kind of map with a single dot. One side reads Smooth with its counterpart spelling out Chunky. Each ingredient in my recipe has properties that I can enhance or tone down to hit as close to the target dot as possible. So, for example, when assembling my oats, I try to chop them for a long time, letting a meter at the bottom run toward smooth.

But the proof is in the pudding. I present my hastily made porridge to see if it hits the spot and he seems happy to gobble it up. Though I don’t get to experience this, I’m told that later in the game I’ll be able to invite my new neighbors over for meals to, hopefully, impress them with my culinary skill.

My cooking abilities are needed again very soon in the demo, as I follow a trail of guiding birds (yeah, that’s a thing) to a woman who needs the perfect dish for her inn. The process for this is the same, though I hope the developers change the fact that I have to ran back and forth from her to my kitchen to complete every step of the quest.

With just minutes remaining, my PR helper pushes me to go off and explore the world. This gives me a moment to find a watering hole for some fishing, and the resulting minigame is easy-to-understand. Plus, I can use the fish I catch for later meals. I also take the opportunity to scamper around the idyllic countryside, which may be my favorite part of the experience.

The landscape is lush with natural beauty. The woods, the fields, the little rivers — there’s a lot to fall in love with. But I’m worried the less sparkling aspects of the game may muddy Tales of the Shire, even if I venture into the game only expecting to find a breezy stroll.